U N I T E D S T A T E S A I R F O R C E
Lt. Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski is the Commander,
Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force
Space Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base,
Calif. She is responsible for more than 5,000 employees nationwide and an annual budget of
$10 billion. As the Air Force Program Executive
Officer for Space, General Pawlikowski manages the research, design, development, acquisition, and sustainment of satellites and the associated command and control systems. Her extensive portfolio includes military satellite communication, missile warning, navigation and timing, spacebased weather, space launch and test ranges, certification for launch, space superiority, responsive space and other emerging evolutionary space programs.
General Pawlikowski entered the Air Force in 1978 through the ROTC program at the New Jersey
Institute of Technology. She then attended the
University of California at Berkeley and received a
Doctorate of Philosophy in chemical engineering in
December 1981, entering active duty at McClellan
AFB, Calif., in April 1982.
General Pawlikowski's career has spanned a wide variety of technical management, leadership and staff positions including command at the wing and center levels. She has served as Director of the Acquisition
Management Office for the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy and as Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Counterproliferation, Office of the Secretary of Defense. She has also served as Program Director of the Airborne Laser Program; Commander of the Military Satellite Communications
Systems Wing; Vice Commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center; Deputy Director of the National
Reconnaissance Office; and most recently as Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory.
EDUCATION
1978 Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark
1981 Doctorate of Philosophy in chemical engineering, University of California, Berkeley
1984 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1990 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1991 Program Managers Course, Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va.
1994 Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
ASSIGNMENTS

1. April 1982 - December 1984, Director, Gas Research and Development, Technical Operations Division,
McClellan AFB, Calif.
2. December 1984 - March 1986, Chief, Mass Spectrometry and Micro-beam Instruments Branch, Technical
Operations Division, McClellan AFB, Calif.
3. March 1986 - December 1987, Command Systems Plans Manager, Air Force Technical Applications
Center, Patrick AFB, Fla.
4. December 1987 - July 1989, Chief, Plans and Programs Division, Air Force Technical Applications Center,
Patrick AFB, Fla.
5. July 1989 - July 1990, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
6. June 1990 - December 1991, Deputy Chief, Special Projects Division, Rome Laboratory, Griffiss AFB, N.Y.
7. December 1991 - July 1993, Senior Executive Officer, Rome Laboratory, Griffiss AFB, N.Y.
8. July 1993 - June 1994, student, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair,
Washington, D.C.
9. June 1994 - March 1996, Director, Acquisition Management Office, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
10. March 1996 - June 1997, Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Counterproliferation, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
11. June 1997 - June 1999, Chief, Revolutionizing Training Division, Training Systems Product Group,
Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
12. June 1999 - March 2000, Deputy Director, Global Power Programs, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
13. April 2000 - March 2005, Director, Airborne Laser System Program Office, Aeronautical Systems Center,
Kirtland AFB, N.M.
14. March 2005 - July 2007, Commander, Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing, Space and
Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
15. July 2007 - May 2008, Vice Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
16. June 2008 - February 2010, Deputy Director, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, Va.
17. February 2010 - May 2011, Commander, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
18. June 2011 - present, Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center and Program Executive Officer for
Space, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1994 - March 1996, Director, Acquisition Management Office, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., as a lieutenant colonel
2. March 1996 - June 1997, Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Counterproliferation, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., as a colonel
3. March 2005 - July 2007, Commander, Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing, Space and Missile
Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., as a brigadier general
4. June 2008 - February 2010, Deputy Director, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, Va., as a major general
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Superior Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Legion of Merit
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Achievement Medal
Air Force Individual Recognition Ribbon
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
1984 Commandant Trophy recipient, Squadron Officer School
1987 National Finalist, White House Fellowship Program
1994 Defense Acquisition Research Award

1999 Air Force Association Management Award - Executive
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 25, 1978
First Lieutenant May 25, 1981
Captain May 25, 1983
Major March 1, 1988
Lieutenant Colonel April 1, 1992
Colonel Oct. 1, 1996
Brigadier General June 1, 2005
Major General July 22, 2008
Lieutenant General June 3, 2011
(Current as of June 2011)